


Dividing By Three

by Redmoog



Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Multi, Seeker culture, Trine - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 21:38:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14819345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redmoog/pseuds/Redmoog
Summary: Ratchet explains trines.





	Dividing By Three

"Ratchet?" Rafael Esquivel looked up uncertainly at his Cybertronian friend. He and the experienced medic hung out a lot together, but Rafael knew that his assigned guardian was Bumblebee and that Ratchet didn't have time to take care of a human, so he tried not to bother the ambulance too much. He didn't want to prevent Ratchet from doing his work.

"Yes, Rafael?" Ratchet replied. He always seemed to be doing something at the large green screen that made up the current Autobot database. Now he didn't look up from his work, intently studying the Cybertronian characters scrolling. 

"Can you tell me about the Decepticons?" Rafael asked, tentatively. At his words, Miko and Jack almost looked up from their competitive racing game. Miko was winning, until she saw a sharp turn, tried to pull off a drift, and crashed into the barrier. This new 3D animated racing game was much better than their former 2D red-and-yellow race car game. It was all thanks to Agent Fowler. He'd gotten it for them at Christmas, after making them promise that they'll work hard. 

Jack took advantage of Miko's crash to pull ahead, guiding his white Lamborghini into a smooth turn. He crossed the finish line first and won. 

Ratchet thought the old game was better. It reminded him of Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, and no matter how obnoxious those twins were, they had still been part of the Autobot family. He didn't mention this to anyone, though. 

"What do you want to know?" He sighed, resigning himself to entertaining sparklings for the rest of his solar-cycle. 

"Ooh! I got a question, doc bot!" Miko exclaimed, grinning. Ratchet didn't like what that grin usually meant. He tried not to think of the many times Miko had gotten into trouble now. 

"What?"

Miko did a drumroll for dramatic effect, and said, "Why is Starscream the way he is?"

"What do you mean, 'the way he is?'" Ratchet groused. If the questions weren't going to be used properly he wasn't going to bother. 

"Like, why is he so screechy and growly and bad-tempered all the time?" Jack answered for Miko, getting to the point. 

Ratchet thought about this for a moment. It wasn't an easy question. "He lost his trine."

"What's a trine?" Rafael was intrigued.

Ratchet replied, "In human terms, the closest thing would be a polyamory relationship, but a trine bond is way deeper than the bond that you humans share with each other, even between twins and triplets. Seekers form trines-groups of three-and their bond is like...linking sparks. Feeling each other's emotions and coordinating attacks well. They can communicate over this bond. When Starscream lost his trinemates he probably felt like he was being cut into three, and two of the pieces were thrown away."

"Can't he find another trine?" Jack asked, puzzled. Even if Starscream had been that attached, surely it was better to have replacements than to be alone?

"No," said Ratchet. "Do you see any other Seekers around here? Anyway, Seekers usually bond when they're younger, and a lot of them are unwilling to give up their trinemate for another new Seeker, no matter how desperate this Seeker is. Starscream seems to be the only Seeker around, unless Megatron is hiding a secret one."

"What exactly is a Seeker?" Miko asked. "I can't see any if I don't know what they are."

"It's a specific flier body type, designed to be as aerodynamic as possible, like Starscream. His trinemates were called Thundercracker and Skywarp. Out of the three of them, Starscream was the least significant as he had no special skills except sucking up to higher-ups, though his attitude and loud screeching and bossiness made up for it. Thundercracker could make the ground or air vibrate depending on where he was, or produce seismic waves while Skywarp could teleport. I hear they often quarreled, but their bond kept them caring for each other because the bond breaking is excruciating. Starscream must have changed after that. Maybe he was pleasant before. You never know with someone as volatile as him. Not to mention he's still dealing with Megatron after all these vorns - years, and no one can stand Megatron. Whatever killed them I don't know, but it sure wasn't us. Hardly any Autobot could fly, and we didn't have many Seekers. It was hard to go against any of them alone, much less all of them together. It's a wonder two of them offlined. The Seeker code binding them made sure they took care of each other, and they couldn't hurt each other too badly on purpose. The coding was probably the only reason they didn't deactivate each other, but Skywarp and Thundercracker would have been separated for that to happen." Briefly he let his processor wander to memories he hadn't accessed in centuries. 

Rafael winced in sympathy for Starscream having to go through all that. He didn't like the obnoxious Decepticon flier, but even he didn't deserve that. "I don't know what it's like to have a twin or triplets, but that must have been tough. Dreadwing and Skyquake are twins, right?"

"Yeah, split-spark twins," Jack said. "Though I'm not sure what that means. Heard it somewhere."

Ratchet reluctantly prepared to go in-depth on Cybertronian lore and culture. "Split-spark siblings theoretically should die if one of them die, for one half of a full spark cannot function by itself, yet Dreadwing didn't when Skyquake deactivated, so when we're back on Cybertron someone should probably look into that. Autobots have had their fair share of split-sparks. You don't know it, but Arcee has split-spark triplets."

The trio's eyes widened. "Whoa, what?" Jack exclaimed. "She never told me!" 

Ratchet shot him a look. "The time she has spent with you is not enough for her to open up and tell you everything about herself, you know. It's not like you tell her all your secrets."

Jack wilted slightly under the sharp look. "True, true. Go on."

Ratchet continued, "There were -" but Miko cut him off. 

"What were Arcee's triplets called?"

Ratchet sighed again. Rafael nudged Miko meaningfully, and she added hastily, "I mean, if you don't mind sharing."

"It's not my place to tell you about all this," Ratchet told her. "You should be asking Optimus. But if you promise never to speak of this to her..."

Miko nodded eagerly. "I promise!" However, Rafael and Jack looked uneasy about keeping the secrets. Especially Jack, whose guardian was Arcee. 

"They were called Elita-One and Chromia." He stopped. "While I would surely enjoy standing around gossiping all day, I have better things to do now."

"Please, doc bot!" Miko begged for more. Ratchet turned the sharp look her way, but she didn't wilt a bit, unlike Jack. 

"Only if you promise not to call me that again." Ratchet thought this was a fair deal, though an unlikely-to-be-kept one.

Miko made her second promise that day, though this one was not one she intended to keep and Ratchet knew it. Miko said, "Any other juicy gossip? The boss in love with a fembot?" 

Ratchet's expression shifted, becoming opaque and unreadable. "Where did you learn that term?"

"What, fembot?" she shrugged mysteriously, grinning in a way that made Ratchet decide that trying to find out how she had heard of that word wasn't worth his time. 

"Optimus's affairs are none of your business," said Ratchet. "Do you want to hear more about split-sparks?"

They nodded. Rafael shifted slightly to a more comfortable position. 

"We had twins on our side once - I don't know what's become of them. They were called Sunstreaker and Sideswipe -"

"Oh, I've heard of them," Jack interrupted. "Smokescreen mentioned the Terror Twins. Seemed pretty in awe. I'm guessing that's Sunstreaker and Sideswipe?"

"Yes," said Ratchet. "They were real terrors. Pranks everywhere. You couldn't lay a pede down without triggering some bomb or other. If he brings it up again, please tell Smokescreen that learning from them will earn him a wrench to the helm. Tell him that even if he doesn't bring it up."

Rafael smiled. "I bet Ultra Magnus was really big on that." He was referring to the pranks. 

Ratchet snorted. "You think."

Miko was grinning from ear to ear as she started imagining Ultra Magnus or Optimus covered in paint or glitter from prank bombs. She had to ask Wheeljack about them one day. He probably knew them. She could use those pranks for herself one day...if she could get ahold of the materials. Man, wouldn't it be fun to set those up in school!

Ratchet had gone on. "They shared a deep bond and were closer than most twins are in many ways, from my limited knowledge. My knowledge on split-spark bonds isn't the best. The two of them were frontliners, and were so stubborn that they never offlined." 

"Sounds a lot like Miko," said Jack affectionately, smiling at the outgoing Japanese girl. 

"I'm taking that as a compliment," Miko immediately replied. 

"Huh." Rafael was lost in thought. "Humans don't have bonds as strong as those you've described, Ratchet, but I guess they're still pretty close."

Ratchet shrugged, willing to end the conversation. "If that's all, I'll return to my work now."

"We don't mind," said Jack and Miko, as they settled themselves on the couch again to play their racing game. Rafael had not yet completed his homework, and he set about doing it now. 

Ratchet hadn't really explained how split-sparks came about, but since the medic was so occupied Rafael thought it was better to ask him another time...and he would. He made a note in his diary, and focused on his chemistry revision paper.

**Author's Note:**

> A somewhat abrupt ending :/ 
> 
> Cross-posted on Wattpad.


End file.
